When Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah he was expressing a truth that had been revealed to him by God. However soon after as Jesus was explaining how He would fulfill His mission to save the world it was Peter who tried to correct Jesus, thinking He had it all wrong? Peter's understanding of who Jesus is was not yet complete. He had an idea of Jesus as the conquering King, God's anointed leader, but he had no grasp of the suffering Servant, God's appointed saviour. Similarly to Peter, we can have ideas about Jesus that do not embrace all of who He is. In fact, we can turn our ideas of Jesus into an idol rather than knowing and serving Him in truth. If we want to experience the abundant life only found in Jesus - if we want to bear good spiritual fruit and be confident of eternal life in Him - we must believe in the real Jesus, not a lesser Jesus or an alternative Jesus.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The Many Faces of Jesus
When Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah he was expressing a truth that had been revealed to him by God. However soon after as Jesus was explaining how He would fulfill His mission to save the world it was Peter who tried to correct Jesus, thinking He had it all wrong? Peter's understanding of who Jesus is was not yet complete. He had an idea of Jesus as the conquering King, God's anointed leader, but he had no grasp of the suffering Servant, God's appointed saviour. Similarly to Peter, we can have ideas about Jesus that do not embrace all of who He is. In fact, we can turn our ideas of Jesus into an idol rather than knowing and serving Him in truth. If we want to experience the abundant life only found in Jesus - if we want to bear good spiritual fruit and be confident of eternal life in Him - we must believe in the real Jesus, not a lesser Jesus or an alternative Jesus.
